Companion Plants for Spring Bulbs

Consider neighboring plants when adding spring blooming bulbs to your garden in fall.

Shade tolerant daffodils combine nicely with hostas, Virginia bluebells and other shade tolerant plants. The emerging hosta leaves help mask the daffodil foliage and fading leaves of the bluebells. Or mix them with daylilies whose foliage mimics the daffodil’s.

Grow fall blooming colchicums, often called autumn crocus, in groundcovers and low growing perennials. The colchicum leaves appear in spring for about 8 weeks then die. The leafless flowers sprout in early fall, providing a second flush of color to that part of the garden.

Select colors that echo the surrounding spring blooming trees and shrubs.

Mix the big bold flowers of alliums with fine textured plants like willow amsonia and threadleaf coreopsis. The possibilities are endless.

A bit more information
Plant yellow daffodils and tulips to complement nearby forsythia and Cornelian cherry dogwood blooms. Use red hyacinths and tulips to echo the nearby red azaleas and crabapple flowers.